Lesson video

Hello, everybody.

It's great to see you.

My name's Ms. Afzal.

I'm very pleased to be here.

That's because we are going to be exploring an incredible text together.

It's a picture book.

It's called ""Greenling" by Levi Pinfold.

It looks like this and I would like you to go and get your copy of the text now.

So I'm gonna pause here while you go and grab your copy and I'm gonna take in this incredible front cover while I'm waiting.

Okay, you're back.

You've got this text.

Look at that.

Wow, this is really gonna be something incredible for us to explore this text together.

So make sure you've got your thinking brains and your looking eyes, listening ears, your curiosity, your enthusiasm, all of your skills, and just be you and be here.

And let's get into it.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can identify and engage with the key themes in "Greenling." We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them.

My turn, your turn.

Fable, theme, convey, community.

Great keywords.

Let's find out more about what they mean.

A fable is a short story, typically with animals as characters conveying a moral.

A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within the story.

To convey means to communicate the message to the reader directly or indirectly.

A community is a group of people who come together, support each other and share common interests or goals.

In our lesson today, exploring and engaging with themes in "Greenling," we have two parts.

First of all, revisiting the text and next, identifying and reflecting on themes.

Let's begin with revisiting the text.

Here is our amazing text "Greenling," which is written and illustrated by Levi Pinfold.

Take a look at that front cover.

It is really so, so remarkable.

Just does and says so much in that one image.

So what do we know so far? The Barleycorns discover a "Greenling," a plant-like baby.

They take it into their home.

As they nurture and care for the Greenling, it grows and transforms their world, bringing magic and wonder to their lives.

The Greenling finds crops for the couple and their community.

It changes people's opinion of it before finally leaving after the summer.

What a tale.

"Greenling" can be considered a fable.

As well as reflecting on themes, the fable's primary purpose is to convey, is to communicate a moral lesson or message to the reader.

Well, we've got a lot of our keywords there.

So theme is a big idea or a message that's being conveyed, communicated directly or indirectly.

And a fable is a short story, often containing animals as characters and it usually has a moral lesson.

So I'd like you to refer to the text as a whole.

What moral does Greenling tell you as a reader? So pause the video while you consider the text as a whole.

What's the moral? What's the teaching, the learning, the message that "Greenling" is giving you as a reader? Pause the video and talk to someone nearby.

Izzy says, "The text taught me to be curious about the environment and its inhabitants." That's fantastic.

And what about Aisha? The text taught me that small acts of kindness towards nature can have a positive impact on the world around us." Yeah, I love that one as well.

I love that ripple effect.

We can do something and then it makes another change and another change.

Check for understanding.

What is a moral? A big idea or topic that repeats itself in a story, a lesson or message that can be learned from a story or experience.

Factual information readers can understand from a text.

So pause the video while you decide what is a moral.

Well done if you selected a lesson or a message that can be learned from a story or an experience.

Check for understanding.

True or false? Taking greater care of the environment could be a moral message a reader gets from the text "Greenling." Pause the video while you decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected true and now I'd like you to justify your answer.

A, the Greenling brings nature back to the Barleycorns' environment, providing them with food and wildlife.

Or "Greenling" can be considered a fable.

It contains themes on community, change and transformation.

So pause the video while you decide which of these statements best justifies your answer.

Well done if you selected A.

Indeed, the "Greenling brings nature back to the Barleycorns' environment and it provides them with food and wildlife, which really supports that message about taking greater care of the environment.

At the climax of the text, Mrs. Barleycorn helps convince the crowd that the Greenling means them no harm.

I'd like you now to refer to the illustration and the text on pages 21 and 22.

Mrs. Barleycorn says that the Greenling should be invited into their homes as they've been living in its world all their lives.

What do you think Mrs. Barleycorn means when she says this? So pause a video, refer back to the illustration and the text on pages 21 and 22 and reflect on this question and share your answer with someone nearby.

What do you think Mrs. Barleycorn means when she says this? Maybe you had an answer like this one.

I think Mrs. Barleycorn is saying that the Greenling's home is the natural world.

Humans have been using its resources without thinking.

Really, really great point.

Another one.

Mrs. Barleycorn could mean that the crowd should be more aware of how much impact they have on the home they share with animals and plants.

Another fantastic point.

Check for understanding.

How has Mrs. Barleycorn's opinion of the Greenling changed in the text? Choose two.

At the beginning of the text, Mrs. Barleycorn did not want her husband to look after the Greenling.

Mrs. Barleycorn did not mind her husband caring for the Greenling.

At the end of the text, Mrs. Barleycorn is still frustrated at the Greenling and what it has done.

At the end of the text, Mrs. Barleycorn convinces the community to change their minds about the Greenling.

So pause the video while you decide how Mrs. Barleycorn's opinion of the Greenling changed in the text.

Well done if you selected statements A and D.

At the beginning of the text, Mrs. Barleycorn did not want her husband to look after the Greenling.

But by the end of the text, Mrs. Barleycorn convinces the community to change their minds about the Greenling.

Well done if you selected these two.

And now it's time for your first task.

A key theme of the text is change and transformation.

Refer to the text and consider the following question.

How does the Greenling change the Barleycorns' home and surrounding area? You might like to reflect on changes in the setting, the home, local environment, the characters, their emotions, traits, opinions, and the effect on the community.

And you may like to start your sentence, your answer with this.

A change I noticed was.

Or I think this was a positive or negative change because.

So pause the video here while you reflect upon how the Greenling changed the Barleycorns' home and surrounding area and share your answers with someone nearby.

Okay.

It's good to have you view back with you.

So how does the Greenling change the Barleycorns' home and surrounding area? Maybe you thought something like this answer from Laura.

"I noticed that the character of Mrs. Barleycorn goes through a big change.

She has a much more positive attitude towards nature and the Greenling at the end of the text." Yeah, fantastic.

Love how you spotted that.

What about Jacob? What did you notice? "I noticed lots of details change in the environment.

It has been rewilded and provided the community with food, plants, and a home for animals." Wow, I love how you're really noticing the change in the whole of the surrounding area in the community there.

Wonderful, wonderful answers.

And for the next part of our lesson, we'll be identifying and reflecting on themes.

A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs, keeps coming up within a story.

Within literature, authors use techniques to convey themes to the reader, communicate these ideas, these messages.

These themes often mirror issues and topics that we encounter in our own lives, making the story relatable to the reader.

Here are some examples of themes.

Friendship, family, love, courage, betrayal, good versus evil, death, protection, loneliness, survival.

Oh my goodness.

These are some amazing themes that can come up in books that we have read.

I'm thinking of one of my favourite novels.

I wonder if you've read "Varjak Paw." And I'm thinking that in that novel, it really has a theme of courage, has the theme of friendship and of good versus evil.

So yeah, I love how some texts can really actually bring together a few of these themes.

What about you? Have you got any themes that you really enjoy reading books about? Maybe you could just pause the video for a moment and share with someone nearby, which themes do you.

Take a look at this list, which themes really resonate with you? Which are the themes that you really enjoy to read about? Okay, I wonder if you had the same theme or maybe different themes.

Maybe you can make some recommendations to each other about books that you've enjoyed on certain themes.

Identifying themes within a text involves inference.

Themes are not explicitly stated within a text.

Authors commonly use repetition to convey themes to the reader.

And there are a few ways to identify themes: considering actions and characteristics of people within the text.

Identifying repetition, so actions, emotions, traits that recur, searching for deeper meaning using inference, looking for those clues to help you come to conclusions.

And considering the overall message of the text.

There are many possible themes that can be drawn out from this text, "Greenling." Readers may interpret themes and their importance differently.

So let's have a think.

What are some of these key themes in "Greenling?" Change and transformation.

Oh, we've been talking about that one.

The wild.

Community.

So it's a group of people that come together, have a shared interest, support each other, and sustainability.

These are just some of the themes that can be inferred.

There are many more.

Check for understanding.

Match the theme to how it is conveyed in the text.

So here are some of our key themes.

The wild, community, change and transformation and how these are conveyed in the text.

The attitudes of several characters shifted as they realised what the Greenling had provided them with.

The Greenling reintroduces creatures and plants from the natural world into the Barleycorns' house and surrounding area.

The train passengers and local people learn to work together and harvest crops sustainably.

So pause the video while you match up the theme and how it's conveyed in the text.

Well done if you matched the wild with how the Greenling reintroduces creatures and plants from the natural world.

Community is how the passengers and local people work together and harvest the crops sustainably.

And change and transformation is how the attitudes of several characters shifted as they realised what the Greenling had provided them with.

Well done if you made these connections.

And now it's time for your next task.

Discuss with someone nearby what are some of the other themes that appear throughout this story? Pause the video here.

Okay, so what did you come up with? So we already had change and transformation, the wild, community, sustainability as some of our key themes in this text.

What other themes did you and your partner discuss? Maybe fear of the unknown, empathy, that feeling with, understanding, seeing the perspective of others.

Acceptance.

The power of nature.

Action and inaction.

Awareness, becoming aware, becoming mindful, and caring for the environment.

So many themes.

What a rich text this is that there is so, so much that we can pull out of it and explore and discuss.

And now onto the next part of your task.

"Greenling" explores the power of working together to look after the environment.

The text invites readers to explore its themes and relate them to their own world.

I would like you to answer the following questions.

Why do you think Levi Pinfold titled his text "Greenling?" What messages or takeaway ideas do you have from reading the text? And you can begin your answers with something like this.

I think Levi Pinfold titled the text "Greenling because.

And also, a takeaway idea I had after reading the text was.

So pause the video here and consider these two questions.

So why did the author title this text "Greenling?" And what are your takeaway ideas? What are you leaving this text with? Really looking forward to finding out your answers.

Pause the video here.

Okay, so why do you think Levi Pinfold titled his text "Greenling?" And what messages or takeaway ideas do you have from reading the text? I am so curious.

What did you come up with? Let's see.

I think Levi Pinfold titled the text "Greenling" because it can symbolise the rewilding that happens through the Greenling's actions while also linked to being green, which makes me think of nature, growth and the environment.

Fantastic ideas there.

What else? After reading the text, I thought lots about my local community and projects that try to protect the natural world and make us live more sustainably.

Wow, I love that.

What an impact this book is having that it can make you really actually think about what's going on in your local community and what can you do? How can you protect the world, the natural world? How can you make changes in your life to live more sustainably? I love that.

Maybe we can all do that.

Should we all see if we can think of something that we can do that can help to protect the natural world and so we can live more sustainably.

Maybe it's something like making sure that we are using reusable bags when we go shopping.

Or maybe it's really reminding everybody in our family about recycling.

I don't have a garden, but I can just plant things on my windowsill.

Maybe you could do that.

Planting some herbs or some flowers.

So many great things we can do to look after our precious planet.

In our lesson today, exploring and engaging with themes in "Greenling," we have covered the following.

"Greenling" can be considered a fable.

Its moral message might link to the conservation and preservation of the environment and how small acts of kindness can make the world a better place.

Revisiting a text can allow readers to discuss questions that focus on themes that are not explicitly stated in the text.

A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story.

The theme of community is conveyed through the Greenling's actions, bringing the Barleycorns and their local community together.

It is one of the central themes of the text.

The message I would like to convey to you is just to really say well done for the way that you've joined in with this lesson.

I really liked hearing your ideas, what you're taking away from this fable.

And especially, I like this thinking about small acts of kindness that we can carry out to help make the world a better place.

So keep up with that.

Please, please keep up your small acts of kindness and let's improve this beautiful world.

I'll see you at the next lesson.

Bye for now.